A 31-year-old Dorchester woman was charged Friday with stealing $34,000 from a Rhode Island man by allegedly posing online as a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and threatening the victim and his family.
Tiana Serrano was arraigned in Dorchester Municipal Court on a charge of larceny over $1,200 by false pretenses and held on $1,000 bail. She is due back in court Jan. 22.
Prosecutors say the 30-year-old Newport man began receiving threatening texts in early September after contacting a number listed on an escort website. The sender, claiming to be a Hells Angel named Jeff Wolf, identified the victim’s relatives, referenced his Social Security information and demanded payment of a supposed debt.
Fearing for his family’s safety, the man made more than a dozen payments totaling $34,000 over 12 days into accounts linked to Serrano, prosecutors said.
Investigators traced the funds through bank records and ATM withdrawals in Boston. Prosecutors said money was rapidly transferred into smaller accounts in a pattern consistent with money laundering through so-called “money mule” accounts.
Newport police initiated the investigation before contacting Boston police.
“These scams are always evolving in technique and complexity,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said, adding that victims often hesitate to report such crimes out of embarrassment or shame.
